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Nintendo's Wii U off to sold-out start

12:02 AM,
Nov. 28, 2012

GameStop employee Lani Girran hands over a Wii U system to Kevin Owande, 51, of Renton, Wash., on a busy Black Friday at the GameStop Southcenter store in Seattle on Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. Owande was up early on Black Friday to purchase Wii U, one of the hottest products this holiday season.

Written by

Mike Snider
Gannett/USA Today

Shoppers still in search of Nintendo's new Wii U video game system have their work cut out for them.

The game system, released Nov. 18, was "effectively sold out at retail" last week, says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. As soon as stores replenished the shelves, units were snapped up and gone, he says. "The demand is quite strong out in the marketplace."

Nintendo sold more than 400,000 Wii U systems during its first seven days in U.S. stores, Fils-Aime says, citing internal Nintendo sales figures from retailers. The new high-definition game console, priced at $299.99 for an ...